How to Store Clothes: 6 Life Changing Tips

Clothes are an essential item, but we’ve all found ourselves with too many at some point. Whether you want to keep them around but in a neat way or need to store them long-term, you’re in the right place.

We’ve compiled all the best tips you need to know to store your clothes and keep them in great condition while you’re at it. Read on for the full details below so you can stay organized and find your clothes faster, which gets you out the door more quickly in the morning.

The 6 Life-Changing Tips on How to Store Clothes

1. Wash Everything

It goes without saying, but you should thoroughly wash your clothes before storing them, whether it’s in your closet for the week or for years to come in a storage unit. Dirty clothes accumulate smelly mildew and mold, which nobody wants. Stains from food, perfume, deodorant, sweat, grass, blood, and more can all wait until later to show up, so it’s best to just clean them to save yourself the headache.

2. Sell or Donate Unwanted Garments

The best way to lighten the load when storing clothes is to slim down your wardrobe. Do you really wear all those clothes? Look through your clothes with a critical eye and sort unwanted items into two categories: sell and donate.

Sell gently used garments in nice condition and especially designer brands, which resell very well. Stuff in worse condition, like coats missing buttons, can be donated to thrift stores or homeless shelters for resale or reuse.

3. Clothes Racks for Easy Short-Term Storage

Clothes racks are a godsend for people without much in the way of storage space. If you’re short on closets and shelves for your clothes, we strongly encourage you to consider investing in a clothes rack. There are types to fit all lifestyles, from slim racks with a single rod to all-in-one racks that can double as closets with several rods to hang clothes from and shelves for towels and linens.

4. Plastic Totes for Large Quantities of Clothing

Those big plastic totes are very useful for folding and storing lots of clothes, whether you want to store them for the short or long term. What’s not to love? They’re close to airtight and excellent for keeping both moisture and clothes-loving insects like moths away.

They’re also stackable for storing different types of clothing or other seasonal items like Christmas decorations. Opt for clear plastic tubs if you want to easily see what’s inside, or classic opaque totes to blend in.

5. Beware of Cardboard Boxes

All things considered, cardboard is a pretty poor storage container for clothes. Moths and other insects find cellulose a tasty snack and cardboard can mold easily with just a bit of moisture. Because of these reasons, cardboard boxes should really just be used for moving and short-term storage in climate-controlled areas of your home. They could also work for climate-controlled storage units where insects and moisture aren’t such a concern.

6. Devise an Organization Method

This tip applies to all clothes storage, but it’s essential when packing away lots of clothes for the long term. Sorting clothing by season, brand, garment type, and outfits are all perfectly valid ways to sort clothes. The most important thing to remember is to immediately label your totes or other storage containers with the type of clothes, so you can find them later on.

If you want to get a little extra with this, you can even write down a complete inventory list of every item in each tote and tape the list onto it. You can include the brand, color, garment type, and so on. It’s really just a mini-sorting system for your larger organization system.

Conclusion

Clothes are one of the ways we express ourselves, so it’s natural to own a lot. When the number of clothes gets to be too much, sell and donate unwanted items before inventorying and storing clothes for the short or long term—clothing racks for the short term, and totes for the long term.

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Featured Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio, Pexels